The Three Kingdoms Voyage

Chapter 354
Lu Xun frowned, and patted the handrail lightly, excited by Sun Shao's grand plan, but also felt that the burden on his shoulders was very heavy.Although Sun Shao has not said it clearly, but he has revealed the meaning of keeping him here to assist Sun Feng, and now he is asking him if he is sure to win Taixifeng. If he nods and says yes, then the task of attacking Taixifeng is definitely It will fall on his shoulders and win Taixifeng, he is the first effort to do my part, and Taixifeng City is his ruling place.

This is an opportunity that anyone would be jealous of, and Sun Shao left it to him.

However, he was not sure.Lu Xun is not an impulsive person. He would weigh it over and over again before doing anything. Just like the last time he ambush Ardashir, he had already analyzed the psychology and strength of Gordian and Ardashir. make such a decision.Otherwise, is it really such a coincidence?It has never been Lu Xun's style to pin his hopes on luck.

Lu Xun believes that it is not impossible to win Taixifeng. As long as he is given time, he will be able to integrate the nearly 20 troops and finally conquer Taixifeng.The problem is that what Sun Shao lacks is time.To support such a large number of expeditions, the consumption of food, grass and supplies is definitely not a small number.Although the Romans and Guishan people have exerted their greatest strength, why not the Yue Kingdom?After more than a year of fighting, the accumulation of the previous few years has almost been consumed. The people of Tianzhu know that the country of Yue is fighting, and the price of food has been raised several times, which is almost three times that of the previous year.Merchant ships have undertaken the main transportation tasks, and these have to be paid, and the treasury of the State of Yue is shrinking at an unimaginable speed.

Sun Tzu said that an army of [-] soldiers would travel thousands of miles and spend a lot of money every day. The current situation in Yue State is roughly like this. If it weren't for the solid family background accumulated over more than ten years, this battle would have been impossible to fight.

"If... for one year, I will be sure to take Taixifeng." Lu Xun was silent for a long time, then turned his head, raised his hand, and pointed to the east.Sun Shaolue thought for a while: "Water attack?"

"Yes." Lu Xun nodded, and said slowly: "The Diyala River originates from the Zagros Mountains. There is a lot of water, and it is flooded every summer. This is where the Diyala River flows into the Tigris River. Tessiphon The city faces water on three sides, so it is easy to defend and difficult to attack, but if a dam is built here, Taixifeng will suffer from it. Taixifeng city is an earthen city, as long as it is flooded for three months, it will collapse without attack. It's just..." Lu Xun shook his head with a wry smile: "This is not a small project, and the manpower and material resources required are even more astonishing. I doubt whether it can be supported until then."

Sun Shao nodded, then shook his head again.Most of the cities these days are earthen cities, and water attack is of course the most effective way. Taixi Fengcheng is between two big rivers, so it is a good place for water attack.But water attack also has the weakness of water attack, that is, it takes a long time and requires a lot of manpower and material resources. If you don’t have enough strength, don’t even think about this move. If you think about building those dams to stop the water, you will go crazy. What's more, the Tigris River will be cut off here.Even if preparations start now, it is still a question of whether the project can be completed before the news period next summer.

"Don't think about this method, it's definitely not possible, there is not so much time." Sun Shao turned his head and looked at the battlefield in full swing, with the corner of his mouth slightly raised: "Do you think those people will have the patience to fight for a long time? Two months If they don't break the city, they will go home."

Lu Xun sighed helplessly.Why didn't he think of this, and it was precisely because of this that he was so worried.

"If there is no quick way to win, then we have no choice but to win Seleucus, and then make peace with Ardashir." Sun Shao said: "Don't worry, think about how to win Seleucus first." Well, I don't have much confidence in the Romans and the Guishuang people, they are brave, but the means of attacking the city are not good enough."

"It's not a bad thing to make them suffer a little bit." Lu Xun responded.

"Hahaha..." Sun Shao, who had already walked forward with his hands behind his back, looked back at Lu Xun, and the two smiled knowingly.

At the same time, Ardashir stood on the top floor of the high palace, squinting his eyes at the ancient city of Seleu, and the warships on the river naturally did not escape his eyes, although these warships looked like black dots , but he seemed to be able to imagine that Sun Shao must be on the boat, and he must be thinking about how to conquer Ctesiphon.

However, Ardashir was very confident. He believed that Sun Shao and the others would collapse the day they could not support the attack on Ctesiphon.He arranged [-] defenders in Seleucus, with enough food, and he was guarded by trusted generals. In order to stabilize people's hearts, several temple priests went there.Although the coalition forces are aggressive, it is by no means easy to capture the ancient city of Seleu.When they consume too much under the ancient city of Seleu, even if they finally take down the ancient city of Seleu, I am afraid that they will not have much strength to attack Taixifeng.When they were exhausted under the Taissan city and had no choice but to retreat, the Sasanian iron cavalry who had been holding back for a few months would dispatch the whole army to hunt down these robbers who dared to come to the Sasanian land, let their blood flow into rivers, and stay forever. on this fertile land.

The final victor must be me, Ardashir said to himself.To conquer the strong with softness, to conquer the strong with the weak, and to strike later are the principles that the sages of the Han people said, but I can also use it to defeat these Han people in turn.

How can we know who is the winner until the end?Ardashir looked up to the sky and sighed.He has led the army for nearly 30 years. During these years, he has been smooth sailing. First, he became a famous general in the Parthian dynasty, and then he defeated the Parthian king, established the Sassanian dynasty, restored the glory of his ancestors, and fought eastward. Guishuang, who broke Rome in the west, has always been a winner, but this time he was beaten to shame and almost died in the canyon.For him, this was a major setback. Not only did he lose the battle and his two sons died, but he also ruined the reputation he had accumulated for 30 years. Who would have thought that one day an enemy would attack Ctesiphon?The Sassanian cavalry is omnipotent, and has always taken the initiative to attack others, so why would they be attacked by soldiers.

However, Ardashir did not sink down. He felt that for him, this was a rebirth. He learned more from this defeat than from all previous victories.He felt that he had suddenly broken through the original realm, ascended to a new level, and was one step closer to Ahura Mazda.

He is eager to compete with Sun Shao again, and to win to prove that he is blessed by the God of Light and is an invincible king.

Under the ancient city of Seleu, the sound of shouting and killing shook the sky. In the northwest corner, a Roman phalanx was lined up three hundred steps away from the city. The soldiers were resting on the spot and watching the battle ahead.Menofilus, the head of the Fifth Army, commanded the soldiers to attack the city. Each of the three vehicles was propelled by two hundred strong slaves with naked upper body. The siege vehicles, which were as high as the city wall, braved the rain of arrows pouring down from the top of the city. forward.On the siege engine, the archers hid behind the wooden wall, and kept suppressing the archers on the top of the city with long arrows. The warriors holding spears and shields looked anxiously at the top of the city, waiting to jump on the top of the city. Head fight.

As the distance continued to shrink, the attack on the top of the city became more and more fierce. The archers on the horse faces protruding from the city wall also turned around and shot fiercely at the slaves hiding behind the siege vehicles.The slaves were strong, but their naked bodies could not withstand the long arrows. Although they were protected by shield soldiers, the Sassanids were condescending and shot arrows from above, making it impossible for the shield soldiers to defend themselves. The arrow made a shrill scream.The chiefs who supervised the battle waved their long whips and beat the howling slaves who were suffering from the pain of being hit by the arrows. They roared loudly, telling the slaves to speed up and get closer to the city wall as soon as possible.

The slaves had no other way of life. They could only grit their teeth and exert all their strength to push the heavy siege engine. Almost every step cost a few lives. The blood was sprinkled on the already blood-stained battlefield. The bloodstains covered the old bloodstains, and then they were trampled into a ball by messy feet, and it was no longer possible to tell which was new and which was old.

At the cost of the lives of the slaves, the three siege vehicles were getting closer and closer to the city wall. The soldiers on the siege vehicles were overjoyed. They raised the bridge ladder and were ready to put it on the city wall at any time, and the soldiers behind them also put it down. He put on his visor, held his weapon tightly, and bowed his body, ready to rush to the top of the city.

The counterattack of the Sassanids seemed a bit weak. Although the horns on the top of the city were blowing loudly, they could not stop the approach of the Romans. They could only watch helplessly as the Romans put down the bridge ladder.As soon as the bridge ladder was hung on the top of the city, a burst of Roman soldiers rushed over, holding shields and waving daggers, shouting.

"Stop--" a centurion roared loudly, commanding his spearmen to rush forward, pointing the spears in their hands at the Roman soldiers rushing from the bridge ladder.

"Kill—" the Roman yelled wildly, shrank behind the shield, and ran over without hesitation.

"Pfft!" "Gah—"

"Pfft!" "Bah—"

"puff!"

The sound of the spear piercing into the flesh and the sound of hitting the shield and iron armor were mixed together, endless.The few Roman soldiers who rushed to the front broke through the spear formation of the Sassanians with their bodies, and the soldiers behind rushed in, wielding their daggers and slashing hard, trying to occupy a place at the top of the city and kill the Sassanians. Squeeze away to make room for the comrades behind to ascend the city.When the Sassanids saw the Romans approaching the top of the city, they frantically blocked them. Under the command of the horn, more and more Sassanids rushed over and formed a thick formation in front of the Romans.Due to the limitation of space, the Romans couldn't help the soldiers behind them, so they could only worry, watching one after another of their comrades killed by the Sassanids at the top of the city.

Three siege engines leaned against the city wall one after another, and the Romans rushed over continuously, fighting with the Sassanids on the top of the city. For a reason that even they themselves can't explain clearly, in order to fight for a foothold, they risked their lives to fight.

Blood flowed down the battlements at the head of the city, smearing the ancient city of Seleu over and over again.

The Romans' morale was greatly stimulated by the approach of the siege engine against the city wall. They roared loudly and beat their shields with their daggers to cheer up the comrades in front. , this is the first time that three siege engines have approached the city at the same time. If they can break through the city in one go, the Romans will seize the opportunity, and he is the first. Later promotions increase chips.Stimulated by fame and fortune, he issued an order to strengthen the attack, and asked the remaining soldiers to rush towards the city with ladders, preparing to use the most primitive method to ascend the city and take down the ancient city of Seleu in one go.

Another 2000 people rushed to the battlefield, carrying more than a dozen ladders and rushing towards the city wall. Quintus, who was watching from the rear, was also very excited. He seemed to have seen the dawn of victory. Seeing the results, the Sasanians couldn't hold on anymore.

"Drumming, cheer for Mennolufis!" Quintus ordered loudly.

The sound of drums soaring to the sky suddenly exploded, echoing above the noisy battlefield.The people of Guishuang, who had just suffered a setback in the siege in the distance, heard this and felt very uncomfortable. Bo Tiao slashed at the railing of the command vehicle cursingly.He felt that he was at a disadvantage. There were 8 Romans, and he only had more than 2. Among them, thousands of people had just arrived, and their physical strength needed to be recovered. It was not easy to break through the city before the Romans. In this way, I became an auxiliary attack to contain the Sassanids, and no matter how hard I worked, I was doing my best for the Romans.

"Withdraw the army." Bodiao shouted impatiently: "Let the Romans attack the city, let's take a good rest."

The retreat of the Guishan people relieved the Sasanians at the head of the city, and they immediately strengthened their defense in the northwest.The ancient city of Seleu was a relatively common circular city. After running for a quarter of a week along the arc-shaped city wall, the defenders in the southwest rushed to the northwest and joined the blocking battle group.

The reinforcements from the Sassanids made it impossible for the Romans who were struggling to support them. They were pushed back step by step, and their footholds at the top of the city became smaller and smaller. Some people were constantly pushed by the Sassanids and fell off the city wall. Go down, screaming in despair.Mennolufis was in a hurry and urged his subordinates to step up to the city to provide support for the soldiers at the top of the city.

At this moment, the Sasanians chanted, lifted a huge log to the edge of the city, and threw it at the bridge ladder. There was a loud bang, the bridge ladder let out a series of groans, and broke suddenly. The soldiers on the siege vehicles who had no time to retreat fell down, and the soldiers who had already attacked the city were also cut off.

The Sassanians cheered, and more people rushed up, killing the desperate Romans one by one at the top of the city.

In less than a cup of tea, the bridge ladders of the three siege vehicles were smashed by the Sasanians, and the soldiers who had rushed to the top of the city were slaughtered, and then a large number of archers rushed to the edge of the city, facing each other with the ladders on their shoulders. The Romans in the city shot together, shooting them into a panic and suffering heavy losses.

The victory that was already beckoning to the Romans was like a seductive prostitute who, after seducing the Romans mad with a look, drifted away.

Mennolufis looked at the cheering Sasanians at the top of the city, and was furious, but there was nothing he could do. After the siege vehicle was destroyed, it was impossible to climb the city with only the ladder, and it would only increase the casualties in vain if it was not withdrawn. .Reluctantly, he gave the order to retreat, and the soldiers who had been shot by the Sassanians and were unable to move were withdrawn from the shooting range to rest.

In this attack, Mennolufis lost more than 700 people.He sent a signal to Quintus, requesting to retreat and rest, and the other legions would continue to attack.Quintus was extremely disappointed, but he had no choice but to replace Mennolufis with a legion ready to attack.Mennolufis asked the lieutenant general to withdraw from the battlefield, and rushed to Quintus' command vehicle with his personal guards. Holding his sword, he strode onto the command vehicle and bowed to Quintus, ashamed Said: "Your Majesty..."

"Okay, okay, don't be sad." Quintus said generously: "You have made progress this time. Finally, we have three siege engines on the city wall at the same time. Maybe there will be five next time." , ten units, the Sasanians won’t last long.”

Mennolufis gave another salute gratefully, and said, "I found some Sasanians on the city wall coming from the south. I suspect that the Kushan people stopped attacking."

Quintus frowned, and said uncertainly, "Is there such a thing?"

"We have to defend." Little Gordian said lightly: "They may have heard the news that we are about to break the city, and they don't want us Romans to take the lead, so they deliberately withdraw from the battlefield and let the Sassanids come to reinforce them. " He paused, and then said: "This is also simple, just send someone over to see what they are doing."

Quintus hesitated for a moment, but still adopted the idea of ​​the little Gordian, and sent a cavalry to the battlefield of the Guishuang people to see what the Guishuang people were doing in the name of reporting the news, and the result was quickly reported back, Guishuang People are resting, they said that the siege is not good, and decided not to attack today.

Quintus was furious, and agreed that everyone would attack the city together, but now the Guishuang people released the water, and the victory that had already been won flew away. The Romans lost hundreds of people in vain. Is this what allies should do?He immediately rushed to the position of the Guishuang people in person, and angrily reprimanded Bodiao for being immoral.

Bo Tiao looked innocent: "How do I know that your side is about to enter the city? I have also attacked for three days in a row, and suffered heavy losses, only a lot more than you Romans. Why don't you take a rest and drink water? If they didn’t attack, what’s none of my business? Why are you still accusing me of intentionally releasing water?”

The two disagreed and quarreled. Quintus walked away in anger and ordered to retreat. I stopped fighting and rested for two days.

Cao Zhang and others who were watching the battle from the rear saw that the front had stopped before the time came. They thought they would take a break for a while, but after seeing that both sides had returned to the camp, they couldn't help being a little surprised.Cao Zhang and Li Yan couldn't laugh or cry, and shook their heads in unison.

(End of this chapter)